"That you remembered what your life was like before, and that when Sin attacked you and took you to Besaid he also hit your friends and family."

Another adept of the "not technically a lie" school of thought, Zei seems to be. But Tōkan nods. "How much should I..."

"We can talk about that later, if you want, but I don't think spending time focusing on it right now is what you want to be doing."

He's... not wrong. And also managed to answer Tōkan's real question without really giving it away.

"I don't," he agrees.

Zei smiles again. "Anyhow, you've earned some of the red spheres from the battle with the sinspawn yesterday. You got your pick between Power, Speed, and Mana."

...he still doesn't really understand how this all works. "Uh, how many?" he asks instead because that might... help?

"We got enough of them that you can get to your temp max, probably."

He gives Tōkan a look.

What does the look mean.

...oh. Yes, that is the obvious question, isn't it.

"Do you have suggestions?"

"Yeah! If I were you I'd grab three Power and two Speed, or four Power and one Speed, depending on where you want to take things. Based on your fighting style, that is."

Zei thinks he needs more Power than Speed? Oh, probably because he already is pretty quick, relatively speaking. Meanwhile his sword strikes were... well, even Gatta who is probably like 15 seemed more effective than he did, there.

"Four and one seems right," he nods.

"Kimahri," Zei calls over his shoulder. "Four Power and one Speed, please?"

The ronso wordlessly reaches into a small pouch attached to his waist and draws four spheres from it, piling them on an arm against his chest, then reaches into another small pouch for the final one. He offers them to Tōkan one by one.

Four Power spheres, he wants to enhance something like... his physical strength. Three for arm strength, one for legs, if he's gonna be running and jumping a lot. Then the Speed sphere goes into... reflexes, that seems to be the rough shape of one of the ways Speed spheres go.

He doesn't really... feel much different? And he especially does not feel like he reached a "temp max", whatever that is. He'll have to interrogate Zei later.

"Thank you, Kimahri."

Kimahri nods and doesn't say anything.

They're harassed a little bit by various thankful villagers who want to show the summoner their appreciation. He's graceful enough, although Tōkan can definitely detect some lines of stress in his eyes whenever he's reminded of what happened yesterday. But anyway, it's a small village, and they're soon past the gates and into the jungle.

As is to be expected, the jungle is teeming with fiends. "Even with the Sending," Zei explains conversationally, "the local spirits get restless after an attack, and furthermore many of them ride with Sin itself and join the locals. So not only does Sin bring destruction by itself, it also leaves the whole surroundings more dangerous. It's good we're here."

Most of the local fiends are not very threatening, however; at least not to a party as large and well-prepared as theirs. They make good time, and make the jungle safer as they do.

There are paths cleared in the jungle, trails and beaten foliage. They're not very wide, though, and the party can only walk three abreast. They assume formation, with Kimahri in front, Wakka in the back, and Lulu and Zei square in the middle of the group. After some thinking, Tōkan joins Kimahri; his style definitely seems more offensive than anything.

The flora starts becoming a bit sparser as they approach what sounds to be a river. From the noise, it's probably narrower but faster than the rivers in Besaid, and that impression is confirmed when they actually reach it. There's a stone bridge erected over it, but the Crusaders Gatta and Luzzu are there.

    "Halt," says Luzzu, stepping between the party and the bridge. "We must advise you against this route. The Ochu Lord has been made agitated by Sin's attack and it was already a cut above the rest of local fiends."

"Ochu Lord?" asks Tōkan. "You mean there's a fiend that's been here for long enough to get a name?"

    "So say the locals," nods Luzzu. "It's not very mobile, and there are many other paths past the river that don't go near it."

"Thank you for the warning, Luzzu, but I think we can take it."

"...that would be risky," says Lulu mildly. "You're sure?"

"It's in the job description," shrugs Zei. "And besides, we haven't really faced anything challenging yet, and a local big one sounds like a good test."

Tōkan reaches up and over his own shoulder to make sure his sword is still there. Not that it wouldn't be, he's been using it all morning, but he feels a little bit fidgety by being told that this fiend will be a challenge by the dude who can summon monsters out of thin air.

    "If the Lord Summoner wishes to help," says Luzzu, now that he's sure the group understands the risks and isn't about to just barge in blindly, "we would welcome all of the aid you can lend."

"I do," Zei agrees.

   "Very well. May Yevon guide your blades." And he steps aside to permit the party passage past the bridge.

The path narrows again past the bridge, and does indeed lead inexorably to a clearing where the fiend awaits.

It's bulbous and rooted in place, some sort of carnivore plant with long tentacles pointing up, the tallest of which is thrice as tall as Kimahri. It sways more than the breeze would permit, but does not immediately become more agitated as the party gets closer.

"Looks like it's right up your alley, 'Lu."

"Hmm," she nods, acknowledging the point. "I'm sure you can keep it distracted, then."